My little brother, the mamodo
by Coke head
Summary: Hanako's life becomes pretty crazy after she is adopted and moves to Japan. Just as she thought it couldn't get any crazier, she meets a demon who says that she is his older sister and spell book owner. Can it get any worse?
1. The Demon Boy

**The Demon Boy**

Hanako strained as she held the large scroll painting up to the wall so her mother could find the perfect place to hang it. A lock of Hanako's brown hair hung in her face and she tried to blow it away but it was useless. It started to tickle her nose but Hanako couldn't do anything about it or else the scroll or she would fall.

Her mother stood behind her with a _Feng Shui for Dummies_ book in her hands as she looked at it and then up at the scroll on the wall. "I think it looks nice there, don't you think sweetie?" she asked Hanako, who only grunted in reply, "Okay, keep it up there so I can put a nail in."

Hanako sighed and tried with all her might to focus as her mother took a nail to the wall and hammered it in ever so slowly. They had just arrived here in Japan this morning and right away their boxes started to arrive from America. Hanako didn't even have a chance to lie down and recover from her jetlag and car sickness. Right away her mother wanted her to help hang up their pictures and things and energize the house through Feng Shui.

She felt a little resentment towards her parents already, even though they weren't her real parents. They were annoying and were strict about things. Ever since they adopted her only a few days ago, Hanako has had to cram Japanese language and culture before their arrival. She still doesn't know enough Japanese to safely get through a casual conversation. What also made Hanako mad was that they had also filed papers to change her name from May to Hanako, after their favorite Japanese artist, Oku Hanako. But her parents didn't change their last name, Wright. When Hanako had asked her father about it, he said that they didn't want to be totally absorbed in the culture that they had forgotten their American heritage.

_Totally absorbed, yeah right, _Hanako thought to herself. If you mean renaming your adopted child after your favorite Japanese artist, teaching them about Japan as you move to Japan and then filling your new house with all this Japanese stuff and not one American flag or a Christian cross is not being totally absorbed, then what is?

Hanako was excused to take a short break and she quickly rushed up to her room to pull out her Bible from her box. She ran her fingers over the gold letters and remembered how her father made a statement about converting her to Buddhism or Shintoism. She furrowed her eyebrows and growled as she opened her Bible to read the Ten Commandments out of Exodus.

"Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them," Hanako whispered and she sighed as she came to the fifth commandment, "and honor thy father and thy mother," she gritted her teeth. "But they're not my real parents!" she complained. She closed her Bible, put it away in the box and then closed her eyes and clasped her hands for prayer.

"Oh, Lord, thank you for the wonderful life you have given me. Please help me adjust to my new surroundings and give me the strength to endure my new parents that you have delivered me unto. Amen," Hanako said before opening her eyes once again.

Even though she didn't pray as the nuns had taught her, she felt that her prayers were usually answered in the same way. Already she began to feel relaxed as she sat there in the empty room in front of the box of her very few belongings. Inside were her bible, a few outfits and a messenger bag shaped like a cherry blossom that her new parents had bought for her. At least she was lucky to have caring parents that bought her things. They adopted her out of that Catholic orphanage. Some children never get adopted. Hanako was lucky.

"Hanako," her mother called for her, "Break time is over!"

"I'm coming mother!" Hanako called back down as she went to the door. As Hanako came down the steps, her mother stared at her with her keen brown eyes from the landing with a displeased look on her face.

"You address me as okaa-san. The more you use it, the more you get used to it," her mother wagged her finger in her face, "Or else how can you learn Japanese?"

"Alright, okaa-san," Hanako said as she gazed at the floor. Her mother turned on her heels and led her into the living room where a large Buddha statue had just arrived on a hand truck. Hanako knew this was going to be a long day.

The next day, Hanako's parents gave her a break and suggested that she go for a walk around town to get herself acquainted with her surroundings. Hanako didn't want to at first but her curiosity got the best of her. She got dressed into a pleated pink skirt with a Hello Kitty patch on the left side and a plain white t-shirt. She pulled her bag out of the box and strapped it across her chest. It seemed stylish and matched her outfit. She absolutely loved the bag. She remembered taking the taxi here with her parents and seeing the cherry blossom petals fly in the air as they rode through cities and towns. That was partially the reason for them getting the bag as a welcome home present.

Hanako slipped on her shoes by the door and went outside. It seemed to be more beautiful here in Japan most of the time, compared to America, but Hanako had only been in Japan for two days and it probably isn't the rainy season. Hanako walked down the sidewalk after taking a quick glance at their front yard, which needed developing. Already, her father had placed two maple trees on either side of the sidewalk, waiting to be planted. She unlatched the gate and stepped out of her safe, new home into the unknown of a totally different world.

As Hanako walked down the street, she tried not to take too many turns. She looked for landmarks so she could find her way back home. Soon, she came upon a large fenced in area that had an open gate for the public. It looked like a park of some kind. Over on one side, there was a large grassy area with trees unevenly distributed everywhere and on the other side was a park where some children played. Hanako smiled as it reminded her of recess after school at the orphanage. She was too old for that now, being almost fifteen.

Suddenly, a little boy of what seemed like eight years old ran up to her, holding out a blue book. He had long messy black hair that hung down to his waist and his bangs hid his eyes. He wore a worn down white t-shirt that had a couple of stains in it and ripped denim shorts. Hanako noticed that his toe was sticking out of his tennis shoe as she squatted down to see him.

"Onee-san, please read this book to me," he asked her in English as he handed her the book. It seemed to be glowing but Hanako figured it was the gloss of the cover.

"Alright," Hanako smiled and opened the book to page one. She didn't recognize the language and it didn't look like Japanese either. She leafed through the pages and stopped when she had passed a page in English. Hanako flipped back through it and read it silently. She looked up and the boy was ignoring her, gazing at a couple sitting on a bench.

"The first spell, Igaru," Hanako read and stopped. That was all that was in English.

"What?" the boy asked loudly as he turned his head toward her. A piece of machinery started up somewhere and drowned out all surrounding sound.

"Igaru!" Hanako shouted over the noise and suddenly a whitish-blue laser shot out of the boy's mouth at a bush next to the couple who looked towards the leaf blower, thinking it had caused the incineration of the bush.

"What in God's name are you?!" Hanako shouted at the boy who turned to her with a serious look on his face of what wasn't hidden by his bangs.

"My name is Lee. I am a mamodo," he told her. Hanako only stared at him on her knees, petrified.

"What is a mamodo?!" Hanako screamed fearfully and Lee covered her mouth with his hand.

"We need to speak privately," Lee whispered to her as he took his hand away. Hanako nodded reluctantly, her eyes full of fear. She dropped the book and Lee picked it back up and tucked it under his arm before following Hanako back home. They kept making wrong turns because Hanako was so scared and couldn't remember the way back. Finally, they arrived at her house.

"Okaa-san, otou-san, I have invited a friend over for dinner if it is alright with you!" Hanako shouted from the little room inside the door as she and Lee both slipped their shoes off.

"Of course, Hanako!" her father called. Hanako led Lee into the living room where she found her father reading the newspaper (printed in English) and her mother reading the _Feng Shui for Dummies_ book.

"Who is this? A new friend?" her mother asked as she put down the book and came up to bow to Lee. Lee stood there, either confused or not wanting to bow back.

"His name is Lee. He speaks English," Hanako told her mother.

"Would you like to call your parents to see if you're allowed over for dinner?" Hanako's mother asked Lee with a kind smile. Lee shook his head and the smile disappeared.

"I'm going to take him up to my room and show him my stuff," Hanako said nervously as she headed up the stairs. Lee followed silently.

"I wonder if that boy's parents knew where he ran off too. He seems to like Hanako a lot and probably just followed her home," Hanako's mother said as she watched them ascend the stairs.

Hanako shut the door behind her and turned to Lee, who was inspecting the boring, empty room. She said a small prayer and waited for him to start.

"A mamodo is a demon," Lee began and Hanako's heart almost stopped beating, "We live in the Mamodo world and a hundred of us are sent here every one-thousand years to battle it out for the title of the Mamodo King."

"You were sent by the Devil?" Hanako shook with fear.

"The Devil? If you mean the current king, yes. He's so corrupt," Lee ran his hand through his bangs and let it fall back in his face but Hanako didn't get to see his eyes.

"Satan rules over you? You are demons from hell," Hanako reached for her door but she couldn't find it as her hand was cold and shaking, almost numb as fear was taking over her body.

"No, his name is Kentarou and it's not really as bad as hell. I guess we should be thankful for that," Lee sighed and shook his head, "Anyways, this spell book is full of spells that we can use in battle but I need you, my spell book owner, to say them while holding the book open. That's the only way it works."

"What kind of black magic is that?" Hanako looked close to tears as she remembered what had happened in the park.

Lee only ignored her and continued, "In order to win a battle you must burn an opponent's spell book. You cannot burn your own," Lee turned to Hanako and saw how frightened she was. "Sit up and stop your whining. There are other humans in this world that are going through the exact same thing," he said angrily. Hanako obeyed, afraid to get him mad.

"The question is," Lee started again, "will you help me become mamodo king?"

Hanako sat and stared for the longest time at the little demon child. Why would God send him to her? Was this a blessing or a curse? God had just given her a decent life and then he sends a demon to her door step?

"I don't know," Hanako replied, looking down at the wooden floor.

"Give it some time to sink in, but let me know soon so I can go find a different person that can read my book," Lee muttered before going back out the door and taking the book with him.

Hanako gazed up at the ceiling as she sat against the wall, thinking about what she should do. Was this a dream? If she woke up, she would find herself back in bed at the orphanage. Yes, that was it. There are no such things as mamodos and spell books. That has to be the case. Unfortunately, Hanako wasn't waking up from this dream. This was real.

* * *

**Here's the revised version! Hope you like it more than the previous one.**

**Oh yeah, take note on the spell Igaru. That will be explained in later chapters. ^w^**


	2. No Rest On Sabbath Day

Hanako soon figured out that it wasn't a dream as she sat at the table with Lee and her father for dinner. Her mother came in and served them a bowl of fried rice and a plate of egg rolls before sitting down on the white pillow next to Mr. Wright. There was silence for the longest time while everyone ate, until Hanako's father spoke up.

"You'll be starting school Monday, Hanako," he told her casually as he gazed at her through his square frameless spectacles.

"Do you really think I'm ready to go to a Japanese school?" Hanako asked him, adjusting her position as her legs were beginning to feel numb.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he replied and there was not another word about it because Mrs. Wright started in about Hanako's studies to start back up again tomorrow. It certainly wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare.

After dinner, Mrs. Wright made Lee call his parents to check in with them but he had dialed a fake number, little to her knowledge. Hanako was surprised later when he told her about it, that he had faked the whole conversation that he had supposedly had with his mother and got permission to stay the night.

"Do you really have parents?" Hanako asked Lee as she rolled out a futon for him next to hers.

"I used to, but they died when I was really little," he told her as he watched her set up his bed for the night.

"I didn't think demons could have mothers," Hanako stated quietly, but loud enough for Lee to hear her remark.

"Well, we do. We're not much different," Lee said with slight anger in his voice. Hanako fell silent and didn't try to speak for the rest of the night. She didn't even utter a "goodnight" to Lee when she crawled into bed.

Lee had sat in Hanako's open window for most of the night, watching the waxing moon until it had disappeared over the roof. Then he had fallen asleep in the window sill with his chin on his chest. When Hanako awoke the next morning, she saw the innocent demon sleeping and pulled a blanket up over him to keep him warm in the morning chill. Her parents hadn't even woken up yet so Hanako used this time to try to get a little further in her Japanese studies.

As Hanako turned around to go get the folder that her mother had bought to put all of her lessons in, she stumbled upon the blue spell book on the ground near Lee's futon that was still made. The book was glowing bright blue just barely, as if it was losing its life or power or whatever a demonic book uses. She was scared to open it but something made her move towards it to look. The hair on Hanako's body stood on end when she picked the book up and opened it to gaze once again at the gray letters. Slowly, she flipped the pages until she came to a red section, the first spell, Igaru. That wasn't the cause of the glow. The book itself was glowing, but why?

Lee stirred in his sleep and fell off the window sill onto the floor, startling Hanako who slammed the book shut. Lee peered out from under his bangs at her and smirked.

"Ah, so have you decided yet?" he asked her, sitting up on the floor. Hanako glared at him and then at the book in her hands.

"Are you a good demon? A rebel against Lucifer?" she asked him finally.

Lee sighed, "I guess you could say I am on the good side. I'm definitely against the current king's ideas," Lee replied to her question. Hanako nodded and held the book close to her chest as she gazed at the floor in her white night gown.

"Then I will help you, if God allows it," Hanako said to Lee as she looked up to look at him. Lee smiled and nodded. He had found his spell book owner.

Hanako quickly got dressed in the bathroom down the hall when she heard her parents wake up after Lee's fall. She came out as her mother was coming down the hall and peeking into her bedroom with a pink robe wrapped around her and her long black hair tied into a ponytail over her shoulder.

"It was just me, okaa-san. I slipped on the floor in the bathroom," Hanako lied as she came up to her in the hall.

"Oh, thank goodness you are okay. Did you clean it up?" her mother asked and Hanako nodded, "Good. Your father and I want to do some yard work today and we need your help."

"Okay," Hanako replied slowly. Mrs. Wright patted her on the head with a smile and went back towards their bedroom.

Hanako entered her room to find Lee looking through her bible, which reminded her that today was the Sabbath, the day of rest and her parents wanted her to help do yard work today. Hanako sighed and took a seat next to Lee.

"What is this?" Lee asked her as he flipped a page.

"It's my bible, a book about God," she explained, happy that a demon was learning the good way.

"So that's who you keep talking about," Lee muttered and placed the bible back into Hanako's box.

"You're welcome to read it when you want," Hanako insisted. Lee remained silent as he crawled back up onto the window sill.

"In the mamodo world, there is no god. At least, that's what I believe. There have been mamodos that worshipped deities and such. I think they are all lying to themselves," Lee grumbled from the window. Hanako stood there, sad that Lee did not believe in a higher power.

"Then what do you believe?" she asked him, curiously.

"I believe in myself and that is it," he replied coldly and stared out into the neighbor's yard where the neighbor was picking up shredded flowers and fixing the flowerbed. His neutral frown rose into a smirk.

"You will have to tell me more about yourself later, Lee. I have to go help my parents… on the Sabbath!" she protested before she left the room.

That evening, Hanako had come in sweaty and dirty, her clothes ruined. She took a long, relaxing shower, grabbed a bite to eat and passed out on her bedroom floor. Lee didn't even have time to talk to her. He had wanted to ask her to forge a letter from his parents so Hanako's parents could take care of him for awhile, at least until they can figure out some way to put Mrs. Wright's worries at rest. Lee crawled through the window and disappeared into the night as his book began to glow on the floor beside Hanako.

"Hanako! Wake up or you'll be late!" her mother's voice rang through her ears. Hanako stirred but she didn't offer to move. Her whole body was sore from remodeling the whole yard yesterday. "Hanako!" her mother shouted loudly beside her, making Hanako jump.

"Alright, I'll get up," she mumbled with a sore throat. Mrs. Wright handed her a clothes hanger with and outfit on it. A blue pleated skirt with a white blouse that had a blue square collar and a blue ribbon, the uniform of Mochinoki High School.

"Hurry, you have ten minutes!" her mother urged as she followed behind her to the bathroom. She waited outside as Hanako got dressed and ready. As Hanako got dressed, it occurred to her that Lee wasn't in the room when she woke up. At that thought, she rushed to get out of the bathroom. Her mother handed her a black satchel on the way out and Hanako rushed back to her room.

"If Lee says there are others and they have to burn books to win, I ought to take his spell book with me," Hanako said to herself out loud as she stuffed it into her satchel, "I hope he's alright," she breathed before she headed out to follow her mother to the car.

Hanako was nervous as the car rolled up by the school. She didn't want to go in there. There was a teacher waiting for her by the gate and she was a minute late.

"What if I can't understand anything at all?" Hanako asked her mother as she moved to open the car door.

"Don't worry, Hanako. Plenty of transfer students come here all the time. This is your first day so enjoy it," her mother turned in her seat towards her, "Kiss, kiss."

Hanako gave her mother a kiss and took a deep breath before stepping out onto the sidewalk and shutting the door. Her mother sped off in the car and Hanako took a quick glance at the teacher as it was impolite to stare in Japan. He was scary with shoulder length black hair and bags under his eyes. He wore a green suit with a yellow shirt and a red tie. The colors clashed together in one odd outfit and Hanako wanted to gag. Color was one of her major pet peeves.

"You must be the new student," he said to her in English and motioned for her to follow him, "My name is Mr. Toyama, your history teacher."

Hanako nodded although the conversation was in English. She was too nervous to introduce herself.

"I understand that you used to attend a Catholic school. They probably didn't teach much history there," he told her as he led her through the empty hall. All of the kids were already in class. "That's fine though, you'll be caught up soon enough. Here is first period. If you get confused on where to go next, just follow the class. You're all in the same grade," he said to her as he opened the door for her.

"Thank you, Mr. Toyama," Hanako bowed before walking into the classroom.

"Ah, Wright I presume?" the teacher asked as Hanako walked in and Mr. Toyama closed the door behind her. Hanako nodded and took a quick bow. "Class, welcome our new student, Wright Hanako. Miss Wright would you like to say a few words about yourself?" the teacher asked her as he peered at her through his thick glasses.

Hanako turned to the class and all eyes were on her. She had to stand before the class several times before and recite bible verses but she wasn't reading from anything this time.

"My name is Hanako. My favorite color is pink. I used to live in America and I went to a Catholic school. Then I was adopted and we moved here," she stared down at the floor tile and noticed that she had rambled on, "I don't speak much Japanese but I hope to become friends with all of you soon."

"Excellent Hanako, you may take the empty seat back there," the teacher told her. Hanako rushed back to the seat and stared down at the desk. She could feel all the eyes on her still.

The teacher was doing algebra on the chalkboard and Hanako tried to take notes with the notebook her mother had placed in her satchel. The Catholic school never taught Hanako algebra and when she left for second period, she was still totally confused. As she walked down the hall, she was gazing at her notes and trying to figure out what had been covered in class while moving in the general direction of everyone else around her when suddenly, she bumped into someone and fell back onto the floor. Her books inside her satchel scattered everywhere, even the spell book.

"Eh… sorry," Hanako let out as she tried to regain her senses.

"No, it's my fault for stopping in the middle of the hallway," a boy apologized as he put his hand out to her to help her up. Hanako gladly took it; it was hard to get up with her body being sore from the yard work yesterday. He bent down and picked up her books for her.

"I'm Hanako," she said, thinking it was right to introduce herself.

"I'm Kiyo," the boy smiled at her before he turned to finish picking her things up, "What's this?" he asked her as held up her blue spell book.

"Ah!" she let out as she quickly grabbed it from his hand, "My new parents bought that for me recently. It's a copy of a Hebrew story written in several languages," Hanako quickly lied.

"Oh, okay," Kiyo said and handed her the rest of her books which she put away in her satchel.

"Thanks, I've been a nervous wreck," Hanako told him and gazed at the floor.

"That's okay. Come on, we better get to class," he said to her and they walked together into Mr. Toyama's classroom.

For the rest of the school day, Hanako couldn't stop thinking about the spell book and Kiyo's disbelief in his face when she had lied. _Does he know about the mamodos too_, she thought to herself often throughout the day. She knew she should tell Lee about the encounter, that is if he comes back again.


	3. Friendship

Lee was not in Hanako's room when she came home from school. She gazed at the window and hoped he would come back soon. Even if he was a demon, he was just a child. She placed her satchel on the new metal desk that her dad must have put in her room just today while she was at school. It looked like her mother had already tried to personalize it for her as she had a Hello Kitty pencil holder with a few colorful pencils and a Hello Kitty pen. Hanako smiled and sat down to work on her homework.

Lee did not appear around dinner time either and Hanako grew worried. She prayed for his safety before going to bed. She couldn't sleep at all and tossed and turned. Hanako finally got up and opened the window, in case he came back tonight.

In the middle of the night, something landed with a thud in Hanako's room and the sudden sound woke her up. She sat up in bed and smiled to find Lee by the window.

"Lee, where were you?" she whispered to him, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"I've been around town, trying to find other mamodos," he whispered, breathless as he lay on his back under the window.

"Do you want anything?" Hanako asked him kindly.

"No, I just want some sleep," he replied and tried to catch his breath.

"Alright, tell me about it tomorrow. Good night," Hanako laid back down on her futon. Lee didn't reply. He was fast asleep already.

Hanako woke up early the next morning to find Lee lying in the middle of the floor near her with food in his hair and on his face. She checked her Hello Kitty clock that hung up on the wall. She still had an hour before school and everything was prepared the night before. She just had to get dressed and eat breakfast. Hanako touched Lee with her foot, trying to wake him up. Finally, she resorted to dragging him to the bathroom and starting up a warm bath. She grabbed one of her t-shirts for him to wear and gave him a bath. The warm water soon woke him up and he was disoriented.

"Where am I?" he asked and he turned to Hanako.

"I'm giving you a bath," she told him as she rubbed shampoo into his hair, "You're dirty."

"No, I can clean myself!" he rejected as he tried to get up out of the tub but Hanako pushed him back in.

"I'm almost done just sit still," she growled but with a smile and poured water over his head. "So what did you find out yesterday?"

"Nothing much. There are other mamodos here in Mochinoki. Some I know and a few I've never seen before," Lee replied as he stared straight on. He felt violated as a human washed his hair.

"Well yesterday, a boy at school caught sight of the book and asked about it," Hanako told him.

"You took the book to school with you!?" Lee shouted at her.

"I wasn't going to leave it here to get burned! Besides, didn't you say I could use the spells as long as I had the book?" Hanako handed him a towel and looked away.

Lee got out of the tub and wrapped the towel around him. "Anyways, did you tell him what it really was?"

"No, I told him my parents got it for me. It was a story translated in several languages. It didn't look like he believed me though," Hanako took a comb to Lee's hair.

"He's probably got a mamodo too, or else he wouldn't have asked," Lee said, clenching his teeth as Hanako combed his hair.

"What shall we do?" Hanako asked him, laying the comb on the bathroom counter. Lee turned around to face her.

"I'm hatching a plan," he smirked.

Hanako suffered through Algebra class, dangled in History class, excelled in English, and didn't like Physics at all. The Catholic school didn't teach science, claiming that religion ruled out everything and what the Bible says is truth. Hanako attempted to learn physics but she couldn't understand Newton's laws at all. During lunch, Kiyo caught up with Hanako and introduced her to some of his friends. There was a giant with orange hair pulled back by a blue headband to match the school colors, a boy that was a head shorter than Kiyo with messy black hair, a shorter boy that was probably the size of Lee, but more stout, and there was a girl that was just as tall as Hanako, but had brown eyes and short brown hair with a blue headband.

"This is Suzy, Kane, Yamanaka and Iwashima," Kiyo pointed to each of his friends, "Guys, this is Hanako."

"Hi!" they all greeted her and Hanako smiled, glad that Kiyo was reaching out to her and introducing her to their classmates.

"Hanako, we're all going for a walk to the park after school. Would you like to come?" Kiyo asked her.

"Please come! It would be so much fun!" Suzy pleaded as she grabbed Hanako's arm.

"I'll have to check with my mom," Hanako replied.

"See you after school then!" Kiyo shouted as they dispersed in the hall and he and his friends all waved. Suzy came up to Hanako with a big smile.

"Hanako, would you be interested in singing in choir?" she asked her. Hanako beamed when Suzy had asked.

"I would love to, Suzy! I used to have to sing hymns at my old school," she told her. Suzy took her hand and led her to the room where the choir met and Hanako signed up.

Meeting some new friends and getting involved in the choir gave Hanako the get-up-and-go to survive through Literature class, which was a class that focused on Japanese literature. When Hanako thought she was about to die, class ended and she had to go to P.E. That class was probably easier than English! Hanako was excited when the school bell rang and she ran out to meet her mom's car parked by the sidewalk. Kiyo and his friends were waiting for her by the school gate.

Hanako opened the car door and leaned in with a hopeful smile. "Hey mom, can I go to the park with my friends?" her mother frowned and before she could say anything, Hanako corrected herself, "I mean okaasan."

Mrs. Wright smiled and nodded, "Will they be walking you home or should I come to pick you up around dinner time?"

"Pick me up, I don't know what they'll be doing later," Hanako told her, quickly glancing at her friends.

"Alright sweetie," her mother smiled.

"Thanks, okaasan," Hanako said before she shut the door and hurried to her friends. "I'm allowed to go!" she shouted happily as she came up to them. They all smiled and Suzy leaped in the air with joy.

"Alright then, let's go you guys," Kiyo smiled as he led the group towards the park. Suzy handed Hanako an orange with a happy face drawn on it.

"I made this for you, Hanako," she told her happily. The ridiculous face on the fruit made Hanako smile.

"Thanks Suzy!" she exclaimed.

At the park, a small boy with blonde hair was being chased by a girl in a car. Everyone's attention turned to him as they seemed to recognize him but Hanako was totally confused.

"Hey Zatch!" Kiyo called to him. As the boy ran up to meet them, Hanako noticed that he looked just like Lee. Was Zatch a mamodo? Did he belong to Kiyo? That explained everything!

"Hey Kiyo, you came just in time! Naomi was about to clobber me," Zatch hugged on his leg.

"Get off my leg!" Kiyo shook him off angrily. Zatch landed on his rear before them and caught sight of Hanako.

"Who's that, Kiyo?" Zatch asked, pointing at her.

"Zatch, this is Hanako, the new student at school. She came with us for a walk. Do you want to come?" Kiyo asked him. Zatch nodded eagerly with a grin. He walked beside them and asked Hanako a million questions as they headed towards an open field. He asked her where she came from, what her favorite food was, whether she liked Praying Mantis Joe or not, and where she lived. Hanako tried to answer everything the annoying mamodo asked her and finally Suzy asked him to feed the birds with her. It was a relief!

"Hey Hanako, do you like dinosaurs?" Kane asked her as they watched Kiyo and Yamanaka toss a ball at the park. Hanako was silent for a minute. She knew what dinosaurs were, she didn't particularly like them, and the Catholic school only mentioned them once and sealed the idea forever.

"Well, they're okay I guess," she replied and Iwashima got up in her face.

"Do you believe in aliens? You know the government covers it up, don't you?" he said to her and Hanako felt scared.

"Uh… no," she replied. She had no idea what aliens were.

Suddenly, a boy rode by on his skateboard and stared at Hanako as he passed. No one noticed as he stopped and came back to the bench the three friends were sitting on.

"Hey cutie!" he smiled at Hanako and got their attention. He was the same age as them with shoulder-length red hair that was partially pulled back in a ponytail. He wore a pink t-shirt over a long sleeved, white shirt, and beige colored pants.

"Huh?" Hanako looked up at the boy, clueless.

"What's your name?" the boy asked with a smirk as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hey, leave her alone. The lady does not want to answer you!" Kane shooed him away.

"I remember you!" the boy shouted as he pointed at Kane, "You're the guy I blew away on the roof top one day!"

"Oh yeah!" Kane finally recognized him and stood up before the boy as he popped his knuckles with a smirk, "And you're the guy I'm going to pound today."

Hanako leaped up and grabbed Kane's arm, "Kane, settle down. There's no need for that," she told him and then turned to the boy, "My name is Hanako."

"Get away from her, Eido," Kiyo said as he approached them, Yamanaka following behind.

The boy, Eido, turned around to see Kiyo and frowned. "See you later, Hanako," he said to her before skating away on his skateboard.

"Kiyo, you knew that guy?" Hanako asked him as Suzy and Zatch came up to join them.

"He's no good," Kiyo said and checked his watch, "Come on, let's go before he comes back."

They walked around the pond and headed back towards the gate around dinner time. Hanako's mother rolled up in the little blue Toyota and Hanako waved goodbye to her friends before jumping into the car to go home.

Surprisingly, Hanako found that Lee was home, but he was asleep. She wanted to tell him about Zatch and Kiyo, but she guessed she could wait until tomorrow to tell him. It wasn't like it was urgent or anything, she thought as she sat down at her desk to do her homework.


	4. Friends and Enemies

Hanako let out a breath of accomplishment as she closed her textbook and turned in her chair to gaze out the window. The sun was already setting, painting warm colored hues in the sky, and coloring the stringy clouds pink. Lee was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the floor and she was sure he would be sleeping nearly all night. Hanako was putting her books away in her satchel when a shadow appeared over Lee. She looked up to see the boy from earlier standing on her window sill. He smirked and leaped into her room.

"What are you doing? You can't just barge into people's rooms through their windows!" Hanako shouted at him as she stood up from her desk. He kept grinning as he approached her, not saying a word. "Don't come any closer!" she shouted grabbed the nearest thing on her desk. She was disappointed to feel a book in her hand.

"You're going to hit me with a book?" he asked smugly as he reached to grab her free hand, "Come on Hanako, let's not start out this way."

Hanako jumped back and held up the book. It was Lee's blue spell book. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'?" Hanako smiled, "Words can hurt alright. Igaru!"

Suddenly, Lee sat up and opened his mouth to produce a large white laser. It shot out at Eido and Hanako jumped out of the way and rolled on the floor as Eido flew back and hit the wall. He groaned and slumped to the floor, gazing at Lee who was rubbing his eyes.

"So you have a mamodo too," Eido said to Hanako as he stood up in pain, "That's okay. I'll win you over yet, cutie." Eido winked before jumping out the window into the night.

"Who was that?" Lee asked, still sleepy.

"That was the boy we had run into earlier. He must know about the mamodos," Hanako gazed out the window as she sat at her desk with the spell book in her hand. Her eyes widened as she remembered, "Oh! Kiyo does have a mamodo! There was a boy at the park that Kiyo knew and he looked a lot like you."

"Then it is true," Lee looked at his bare feet. They were dirty even after the bath Hanako had given him that morning.

"What are you thinking about?" Hanako cocked her head at him.

"Oh! Nothing," he replied, his voice shaky. There was something he was thinking about, Hanako decided.

"Well, I must be getting to bed. I have school again tomorrow," Hanako sighed before she disappeared into the hall.

Lee quickly took off his clothes and climbed up onto the window sill. The moon was nearly full, just a couple of days. It was big and yellow in the hazy night sky. Lee leaped out the window and went streaking into the yard.

Hanako woke up late for school the next morning. Lee lay on his bed with just his t-shirt on but he was caked in dirt, leaves were stuck in his hair and berries smeared across his face. Hanako didn't have time to wash him so she laid out a clean outfit and hurried to get ready for school. As she got dressed, she wondered why he was so dirty all the time. Hanako figured because he was a boy, he played in the dirt a lot. He seemed too mature for that though, she thought.

Her mother drove leisurely to school as if being late wasn't a rush and gave Hanako a tardy note to give to her first period teacher. Hanako had had a bad day so far. She woke up late, missed out on breakfast, stubbed her toe in the bathroom, and had to climb over the gate at school to get in. She didn't think the day could get any worse. That was the optimistic speaking in her.

But it got worse.

"Students, we have a transfer student today. Please welcome Hibiki Shion!" the teacher clapped as a girl with a colorful handmade backpack walked in. She had orange hair pulled into a ponytail and a pink hat over her head. She smiled as a little cat popped its head out of her bag and the whole class went berserk over the cute cat.

All through the day, Shion got all the attention. Hanako didn't mind at first until Kiyo and his friends invited Shion to take a walk with them to the park. Hanako wasn't invited. She growled to herself and climbed into the car. They weren't really her friends if they forgot about her so easily.

"Lee wanted me to drop you two off at the other end of town to see if his parents were home," her mother told her as Hanako buckled up. She gazed back and saw Lee in the backseat. She wondered what he was up to. "I think I'll go to the super market while I'm at it. I'll come back to pick you guys up," her mother said as they drove across some train tracks.

"There's a new girl at school," Hanako said to them to get it off her chest, "Her name is Shion. She is so popular now. You know my friends who I hung out with yesterday? They invited her to go to the park with them today and they didn't bother inviting me!"

"Now Hanako, you were popular on your first day too. Give Shion a chance. You may become friends with her and you can all hang out together," her mother said optimistically.

Hanako only glared angrily out the window as they drove through the countryside of Mochinoki. It was pretty but Hanako could only enjoy it a little, she was too infuriated by Shion today. They didn't even attempt to talk to each other. Maybe tomorrow she should say something to Shion? There was no need to be angry at her.

"Alright, stay together and I'll be back in a bit. I'll honk my horn if you guys aren't around," Mrs. Wright smiled before she drove off. Hanako and Lee both waved before turning towards a two story apartment building that looked run down and abandoned.

"You made that up didn't you? Why are we here?" Hanako asked as she followed Lee into the creepy building.

"Yeah, there's someone here we have to talk to," Lee replied as he pressed a button on an elevator. The door closed and gravity pulled them down as the floor pushed up. Hanako's stomach lurched but she found that she was okay when they had gotten off.

The halls were messy with messes streaked across the wooden floors, trash bags left out along the walls, and some worn down welcome mats with bugs crawling on them. And the flies! Hanako was nearly sick to think of it, she imagined being in a field of pretty flowers or a sanitary room in the doctor's office.

Lee knocked on a door and they could hear shuffling from inside. He knocked again, getting irritated. "Grisor, if you don't open this door, I will knock it down!" Lee shouted through the door.

"Alright, alright!" a voice said from within and a series of locks were unlocked. The door cracked open and a scaly, purple face appeared in the doorway. "Ah, Lee, you brought your partner with you," the person smiled as they opened the door to let them in.

"Are you a mamodo?" Hanako asked as they walked in and she saw the purple demon in robes.

"Why yes, I am. How kind of you to notice," he gave her a toothy smile. He had sharp teeth like a shark and pointy ears sticking out from under a tall hat with a purple gem in it. "Come sit! The doctor is in the bathroom down the hall right now. He'll be back very soon," Grisor told them.

"The doctor? What kind of doctor?" Hanako asked Grisor.

"He's a physics scientist. He's written tons of books!" he grinned.

"Physics? I have that at school, I suck at it," Hanak muttered.

"Maybe Dr. Hakase can help?" Grisor suggested.

Lee and Hanako kicked off their shoes and sat down around the small table in the middle of the room. It was a very small apartment. There was a refrigerator, a hutch, and a couple book cases. Hanako was thankful that she didn't have to live in a cramped orphanage anymore.

"So you guys knew each other from way back or something?" Hanako asked them curiously as she laid her satchel at her side and kept her hand on it. She wanted to be able to grab the book quickly just in case.

"Yeah," Grisor replied meekly with a grin. Lee stared at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Acquaintances," Lee replied as he stared Grisor down. Suddenly, the door opened and Grisor's partner walked in, surprised to find visitors.

"Dr. Hakase, this is the mamodo I told you about and his partner… I'm sorry I did not catch your name, miss," Grisor turned to her, embarrassed.

"Hanako," she told him.

"This mamodo doesn't look as powerful as you said he was, Grisor," the doctor said as he sat down with them at the table, across from Hanako. He was an old man, partially bald with long gray hair. There were metal pieces in his face, as if he had been modified for a bone structure. Hanako thought it was sad that he had to live here in this run down apartment.

"Don't judge the book by its cover, doctor. Lee is amazing!" Grisor told him excitedly. Lee smirked under his bangs. Hanako sensed that Grisor was under pressure and was trying to impress Lee. She figured he must have indeed been powerful in the mamodo world.

"You're right," Dr. Hakase said to Grisor. He gazed at Hanako, "How many spells do you have so far?"

"We have only one. Lee and I met about a week ago," she replied. Dr. Hakase nodded and pulled out something from his pocket.

"Grisor told me that you are very powerful. I trust Grisor so shall trust you too, Hanako and Lee," he laid a shard of mirror on the table and Hanako saw his robotic arm. The poor guy, she thought. "If you will help us, we need to find the other two pieces of this mirror," he told them.

Hanako gazed at the mirror in front of her and wondered why it was so special. It looked like it was made out of lava rock with a mirror planted into it.

"Why should we help you?" Lee asked as he glared at Grisor, who was sweating under his cap.

"Well, Lee, I don't have a chance in the battle. I want a fair fight too! With this mirror, I can become stronger. If you help us, we will be allies and we won't have to fight each other," Grisor told him.

"I can still take you on anytime," Lee growled.

"How will we benefit?" Hanako asked out loud.

"As allies, we can aid you in a battle," Grisor told her. Hanako nodded. She felt she will be needing help if Eido and his mamodo came back.

"So how about it?" Dr. Hakase asked them.

Lee turned to Hanako, "I'm willing to if you are," he said to her.

"As long as you're confident," Hanako replied and Lee nodded, "Alright, we'll help you."

"Excellent," Dr. Hakase smiled, revealing a toothless grin. He reached out his good hand and shook Hanako's hand. Grisor reached over for Lee and Lee reluctantly shook his.

"We better get going, mom is quick at shopping," Hanako said as she got up.

"If you know any other mamodo teams that would be willing to help us, send them over here," Grisor told them as he and Dr. Hakase led them through the door.

"Sure thing," Hanako replied.

"Oh! Dr. Hakase, Hanako is struggling in physics, would you care to help her out?" Grisor remembered.

"No, I don't mind. You know how I enjoy physics," he grinned, "Come over anytime you need help."

Hanako beamed. Finally, she had a chance to excel in more than one class. "Thanks doctor! See you guys later!"

Lee gave a boring wave as they walked down the hall. Suddenly, they heard the honking of the horn and hurried down to the road. As they rode back home, Hanako began to think of all the different ways they could benefit from the alliance. First, Lee had to get stronger. Grisor claimed that Lee was powerful but surely there was more to Lee then just a laser.


	5. Friendless

**Friendless**

Lee had lied to Mrs. Wright saying that his parents said he could stay with Hanako forever because they didn't care. The sad story really won her over and she believed him. Hanako had a feeling that there was going to be more obstacles to having Lee as her mamodo, other than the battle for Mamodo King. Like the entire struggle that Hanako's foster parents had to go through to adopt her, rename her, and get her into Japan. It was going to be a lot of work and maybe eventually, Hanako would have to tell her parents the truth.

As dinner was being prepared downstairs, Hanako and Lee were up in the bedroom. Lee sat in the window and Hanako slumped in her desk chair with the spell book in her lap. She leafed through the book, looking for anything she could possibly read but there was only the first spell.

"How can we get stronger Lee?" she asked him. The question had been on her mind since they left Dr. Hakase's house. "How can we unlock new spells?"

"I don't know exactly, Hanako. We might have to fight other mamodo to get stronger," he told her as he gazed out the window.

"Like Zatch and Kiyo or Eido's mamodo?" Hanako asked him. Lee nodded. He turned his head and caught Hanako's gaze.

"We might need to make allies, in case Grisor becomes to powerful," he told her, "I am looking for a certain mamodo, one that I knew long ago."

"Who's that?" Hanako asked curiously.

"He wasn't a follower of mine but a worthy opponent and we became acquaintances of sorts. I'm sure he'd be willing to team up with us in the case of Grisor being too powerful. He'd like to pick on the little bugger too," Lee laughed.

Hanako forced a smile, "I hope we can find this friend of your's soon, before we find this mirror thing."

"Yeah," Lee sighed.

The next day at school, Hanako approached Shion between classes. She took a deep breath as she walked up to her.

"Hey, Shion," she greeted her. Shion turned around with a friendly smile. "My name is Hanako. I was wondering if we could hang out sometime, if you weren't busy."

"Actually, I'm pretty busy with my friends after school," Shion told her politely as Kiyo came up to them.

"Oh, okay then," Hanako said as she turned to go.

"Hey, you want to go for ice cream after school, Shion?" Kiyo asked her.

"I sure do!" Shion exclaimed.

"Hey, Hanako," Kiyo called to her as Hanako walked slowly down the hall, ignoring him.

Through the day, she convinced herself that it was fine. They weren't the best friends anyways. Plus, she had tried to talk to Shion and befriend her, but that didn't quite work out. At least she tried. Maybe she could get attention if she started hanging out with that Eido guy? But he had a mamodo, therefore, they were enemies. Hanako sighed, catching the attention of Mr. Toyama during class. She was about to head to choir after class when he called her name and said he wanted to talk to her.

"I know it may not be any of my business as your teacher but I feel that something is troubling you but it is my duty as your teacher to make sure your grades don't slip," he said to her, "So what is up? Is there something going on at home or here at school?"

"Thanks for your concern, Mr. Toyama, but it's nothing really. I'm just tired after settling in to my new home," Hanako lied. She really didn't want to tell him about her personal troubles and she wanted to kick herself for lying, but she was tired so it was partly true.

"Alright then, you should get to bed a little earlier than usual then. I don't know about the rest of your teachers, but I'll extend the deadline for today's homework until next week for you because of special circumstances," he smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Toyama," Hanako said and bowed before she left to choir, which she didn't enjoy as much as she usually did because she had no friends there.

After school, Hanako had to walk home because her mother had gotten a job in town. She was real tired as she came through the gate and up to the door. She just wanted to lie down and rest but as she opened the door, she knew that wouldn't be so.

Eido turned with a smile and big bright eyes as she came in. "Hey cutie!" he exclaimed and she froze up.

"He invited himself in! Only I was home!" Lee tattled as he came running towards her.

"Where's your mamodo?" Hanako asked him as she kicked off her shoes.

"He's out, I ditched him for awhile so I can come see you, my new girlfriend," he came closer and Hanako took a step back, her hand on the door knob.

"I didn't agree to that," she said, twisting the door knob.

"Stop denying it," Eido smirked and closed his eyes as he leaned in to kiss her. Just then, Hanako opened the door and Lee shoved him through the doorway. She shut the door behind Eido and locked it. "Babe, come on! Seriously, can't we talk about this!?" he shouted as he banged on the door.

"I need some time to think!" she shouted back and headed up to her room. She wondered if she should call the police or not but she shrugged it off. This was Eido she was dealing with. She and Lee can both take him on.

Hanako fell face first onto her futon and wished so badly that she had a regular bed with a mattress. Lee got up into his usual spot on the window sill and waited for Hanako to say something.

"So what was that all about?" she asked him as she turned her head to face him as she lay on her belly.

"He came over at about two-thirty, wanting to see you. I told him you weren't home and he invited himself in, saying he could wait. He didn't bother me but he fixed his own sandwich and helped himself to some soda," Lee told her and she laughed a little.

"Wake me up in an hour, I have homework to do and I want to go and see if Dr. Hakase can help me out," Hanako told him.

* * *

**Yeah, sorry about the delay. I had the sudden urge to continue and I saw that Chapter 5 was almost finished.**


	6. Reconsidering

Hanako sat at the table with her homework spread out across from Dr. Hakase. She was still sleepy from her short nap but she tried her best to pay attention. Lee was at home with the spell book because they had both felt insecure of Hanako bringing the book with her to Dr. Hakase's.

"Electrons have a negative charge, protons have a positive charge, and neutrons have a neutral charge," Dr. Hakase demonstrated as he drew a model of an atom on a piece of paper, "If you can remember what kind of charges protons or neutrons have, then you can deduce the charge of the remaining subatomic particles." He looked up at Hanako to see her gazing blankly at the paper. "Do you understand?"

Hanako shrugged, "It's just that I was only taught that God created everything and it wasn't a human right to know how he created it. I'm trying to accept science as truth so I can learn but it is awfully hard after all these years of being taught one thing," she explained to him.

"I see," he sighed, "Well, it is about dinner time. Your mother should be coming by to pick you up soon," he said as he checked his watch.

"Yeah," Hanako slowly put away her books in her satchel.

"Have you run across any other mamodos?" he asked her suddenly as he got up from the table.

"Yeah, actually, their names are Zatch and Kiyo, there's no doubt that they're partners," Hanako told him.

"Ah, Shion has told me about them," Dr. Hakase said and Hanako quickly looked up at him.

"Shion!" she exclaimed, "You mean Shion Hibiki?"

"Why, yes. Do you know her?" he asked her.

"Know her? She only enrolled the other day and I'm already jealous of her," Hanako growled and shoved the last book in her satchel, then snapped it shut.

Dr. Hakase grinned. "Don't you worry, Hanako, Shion is just a tool. We lied to her about the mirror and she's striving to find the last two pieces. As soon as we get all the pieces of the mirror, I'll let you and Lee take her mamodo out."

Hanako smiled, "So she has a mamodo," she whispered to herself.

"That mamodo is the most precious thing to her, I'm sure you would delight in seeing her blubbering over it," Dr. Hakase said.

"Thanks for everything, doctor. That really made my day," Hanako said as Dr. Hakase let her out the door.

"Anytime, Hanako," he waved. He watched as Hanako walked down the hallway and get on the elevator. She was just like Shion, so easy to fool, but not as annoying to be around. Dr. Hakase decided to keep Hanako around longer after they get all the pieces of the mirror. Grisor may decide to get rid of Lee, but it was all for the better.

Meanwhile, not far from Dr. Hakase's apartment, Eido moped down an alley and was greeted by a mocking voice. Eido didn't bother to look; he was so out of it after the run in at Hanako's.

"Hey Eido, where've you been?" a young boy asked. He was sitting on top of a metal trash can with one leg pulled up and his arm resting on the knee. He had short orange hair that stuck up on both sides of his head and bright blue eyes.

"At Hanako's," Eido muttered sadly. He tossed his backpack on the ground and set his skateboard aside before falling into a dirty mattress.

"All girls hate you Eido, why even try?" the boy asked him.

"She said she'd think about it!" Eido snapped defensively, turning in the mattress to face him, "Surely she must like me then." Eido gave it a thought and said, "You're obviously not a chick magnet either, Hyde."

The boy didn't take any offense from that statement, but simply looked up menacingly at Eido. "Girls get in the way of your goals. Hanako will get in my way of becoming king. You should be spending less time being a pervert and spend more time helping me become king!"

"I'M NOT A PERVERT!!!" Eido exclaimed angrily, jumping at Hyde who disappeared in the blink of an eye. Eido growled, holding the trash can where he landed. He gave up quicker than usual, to Hyde's surprise. Eido fell back into the mattress, wondering if he really was a pervert and if Hanako would ever like him. He had to change something about himself, he decided.

Later that night, Hanako sat at her desk, supposed to be doing her homework but was rather daydreaming as she stared off out the window. Lee came through the door with a white towel wrapped about his waist and a small towel wrapped his hair up and sat on top of his head.

"Honestly, I like it better when you give me baths," Lee muttered when he came in. Hanako couldn't help but grin. "Your mom's really rough and she doesn't pay attention at all! She got soap in my eye!"

Lee pulled himself up into his favorite spot on the windowsill, managing to keep the towel about his waist. "Did Dr. Hakase say anything?" he asked Hanako, glancing out the window. It was weird to be able to see his whole face with his hair pulled up out of the way. His eyes were so focused, so stern, and a beautiful shade of sky blue.

"Shion is working to get the mirror too, she has a mamodo," Hanako told him. Lee smirked. "What?" Hanako asked him, clueless.

"We're teamed up with a two mamodo teams, against another mamodo team and Eido and his mamodo are probably against us as well. This will be fun, finishing them all off," Lee explained, staring out the window.

Hanako was stunned, but then again, the goal was to get rid of all other mamodos. She just had to let the idea set in.


	7. Hero

Hanako's mother woke her up earlier than usual the next morning. Because of her new job, she couldn't drive Hanako to school, so she had to walk to school. Hanako stuffed her books in her bag as her mother rushed around, tidying up things. Lee was lying on the floor by the window, with a small blanket thrown on top of him. _He must have been out again last night_, Hanako thought to herself.

"Now be careful today, sweetheart," her mother stopped and looked at her sternly, "There are lunatics out there and more than usual tonight."

_Yeah, like Eido_, Hanako thought smugly, almost smiling to herself. "Why tonight? What's so special?" Hanako asked her mother, who picked up her trash bin to empty out, even though there were only a couple wads of paper in there.

"There's a full moon tonight. It's an old belief that crazy things happen on the night of a full moon," her mother explained before heading out the door. Hanako followed behind, and wanted to ask whether that was a Japanese belief or an American belief, but she held her tongue and went to the bathroom instead.

After a hot shower, Hanako got dressed and opened the bathroom door to find Lee standing there, patiently waiting.

"Sorry. You need to use the bathroom?" she asked him, getting out of his way.

"Yeah, but I wanted to tell you something," he said, running a hand through his long black hair.

"Okay," Hanako waited.

"If you run into Eido today, give in to him. I don't care if you don't like him or not. You said yesterday you would think about it, so that tells me you're considering. But anyways, I want you to get close to him as much as you can so we can take out his mamodo," Lee told her menacingly.

"Alright," Hanako said blankly, trying not to take it personally.

"Same with Dr. Hakase, and if you can, Shion and Kiyo. If you find any more possible mamodo, keep me updated," Lee yawned before going into the bathroom.

"Of course!" Hanako stated loudly as he shut the door.

She hurried back into her room to do her hair and makeup, thinking of ways she could carry out Lee's will. He was right, she had been thinking about Eido lately. He was cute, and he really likes her. He just comes on too strong. What could be so bad about him anyways? Kiyo must not like him for some reason. It was probably a previous feud between Eido and Kiyo's friends that makes them enemies. And Dr. Hakase? Hanako did feel bad for him. Maybe after school and homework help, she could help him out around the apartment? Shion would be the tough one, however. She was spending all her time with Kiyo and company, giving Hanako no time frame to even talk to her. She should talk to Dr. Hakase about that to see what he thinks.

Something caught her eye. The sun hadn't even come up yet but there was a glint in the corner of her eye. Hanako turned from her mirror on the wall to see Lee's spell book glowing on her desk. The glow was undulating, glowing brighter and then dimming out like a heartbeat. Since she met Lee, his book would glow like that every night but now it's doing that during the day. Why?

She left the book there when she left to go to school. Lee didn't want her taking it anywhere without his consent, and she didn't want to carry a glowing book to school either.

As Hanako headed out the front door, Lee opened the bathroom door and went back into Hanako's room. He stared through his bangs at the glowing book on the desk. Tonight was the night.

Hanako hurried to school, heeding her mother's words. There were other students walking to school as she passed them, leisurely walking with their friends. Hanako almost wanted Eido to suddenly pop up, like he usually does…

Thinking about Eido made Hanako realize that she was suddenly alone on a street. No cars, no people, no one. This was the poor part of town that Hanako's mother would usually lock the car doors when they passed through. Hanako became worried and she tried not to look worried and become a bigger target.

"Wait right there, missy," a scratchy voice said from behind her. Hanako froze in place and began to tremble. A man about six feet tall came out in front of her, putting a gun to her head. Her mother was right! The lunatics do come out during the full moon! He wore a black ski mask, a black hoodie with the hood pulled up onto his head, and baggy denim jeans.

"What do you have in your bag?"

"B-books," Hanako replied quietly, mortally terrified.

"Going to school? Why are you in this part of town though? A pretty little girl like you shouldn't be walking around alone," he whispered in her ear and Hanako winced. She wished someone; anyone would come out and help her!

"Jiker!" someone shouted from above and the man looked up before being blasted by an invisible force up the street. Hanako turned to gaze at the almighty hand of God who saved her with a single word, but all she saw was Eido walking up to her with a skateboard in one hand, and a light blue book in the other. It was a mamodo's spell book.

"Are you okay?" he asked her sternly. Hanako nodded. She was so thankful and surprised, she couldn't really say anything. "I chased him off, don't worry," Eido said as he watched the man run away, screaming.

He turned and looked at her with a serious face. Was this really Eido? Hanako didn't know what to do. She dropped her satchel and wrapped her arms around Eido's torso and buried her face in his chest, almost wanting to cry. Eido was surprised by this reaction and slowly wrapped his arms around her as well.

"I really wanted to see you today and when that guy came up to me, I really hoped someone would come and save me!" Hanako sobbed. She looked up into his face and forced a smile, "For once I'm actually glad you stalk me," she told him as she tried to calm down.

"I wasn't stalking you!" Eido defended himself but Hanako hugged him tighter. "Okay, maybe I was, but I was worried about you walking alone," he said quietly, resting his chin on top of her head. "So you really wanted to see me today?" he asked her to try to lighten up the mood.

Hanako pulled away and picked up her satchel. "Yeah, what about it?" she smiled as she began to walk down the sidewalk. Eido followed behind her with his skateboard and the spellbook. Hanako hadn't caught sight of his mamodo yet.

"Just that I thought you hated me," he said as he slipped his book into his green backpack. Hanako blushed as she felt his hand slip into hers. This was exactly what Lee wanted! But is this what she wants?

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately," Hanako finally said after awhile of silence and Eido looked at her. "Whenever I see a couple in a park, holding hands and cuddling, I think about you. Earlier when I was walking from my house and I saw a group of friends walking together, I thought of you. I don't have any friends at school. They all hang out with another girl now. You're the only person who wants to hang out with me, Eido," Hanako told him, looking up into his eyes as they walked.

"I think about you all the time, Hanako…" Eido stopped and pulled her towards him, "I'd really like for you to be my…"

"Hey, Hanako!" Mr. Toyama called out from over the hill, "Hurry up!"

"Be right there Mr. Toyama!" Hanako shouted back. She turned to Eido sadly. "Can you hold that thought until after school?"

"Um, no prob. I'll be here to walk you home," Eido tried to smile, but he was bummed out about the sudden interruption.

"Okay, bye!" Hanako started to let go of his hand, letting her fingers slip through his.

"Bye," Eido waved sadly. He watched her jog up the hill to join her teacher and then go through the school gates.

"Wow, she actually likes you," Hyde whispered from behind him, "Do you think she's for real?"

"Yeah, she's for real," Eido muttered. "She's my total dream girl come true!" he exclaimed excitedly.


	8. All She Can Think About is Him

"So…" Mr. Toyama smiled slightly as they walked to the school, "Who was that boy?"

"Oh," Hanako blushed nervously, "Just a guy I've been hanging out with since all of my friends left me for Shion when she came here."

"Ah," Mr. Toyama said, the excitement in his voice disappearing and his smile fading. "Is that truly why you've not been yourself lately? Because of friend issues?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about saying otherwise before, I just didn't think I should be telling my teacher about all my personal problems," Hanako confessed as he opened the school door for her and they walked down the hall.

"Hanako, if there's something going on in your life that you can't tell your parents, someone like me or your school counselor would be more than glad to help," he told her. "Keep me updated, alright?"

"Okay!" Hanako waved back as Mr. Toyama went down a different hall. Hanako went into her first period class and sat down at her seat in the back.

Eido was still on her mind throughout class until second period in history, when Mr. Toyama began to talk about Catholics and Protestants. Hanako began to think about how she had been acting lately. She had been lying and was jealous of Shion and was assisting a demon. She wasn't doing all the right things. She began to wonder, why would God send down demons to find a human partner and battle for the title of demon king? Were they really demons, or were they angels? They couldn't have been angels. And if they were demons, what kind of god would do that?

Hanako had missed everything Mr. Toyama said and all during her next class, she was still pondering about God. At the end of the day, she came to the conclusion that everything she had been taught about God was false. She wouldn't convert to Buddhism like her parents, but she wouldn't be Catholic either. She didn't know what she would do, just right now, her heart was set on being with Eido.

She smiled when she saw him waiting at the school gates in the crowd of students. He had his hands in his pockets and he was gazing into the crowd, looking for her with a smug look on his face. She wondered what he was thinking.

"Eido!" she shouted, running up to him, waving her arm in the air. He noticed her just as she jumped up to hug him. Surprised, he wrapped his arms around her to catch her. "Have you been waiting here all day for me?" she asked him with a grin.

"Actually, yeah," he replied, smiling.

"Aw," Hanako gave him a squeeze and then she stepped onto the ground, ending the embrace. He grabbed her hand and held it as he stared into her eyes.

"Hanako, earlier I was going to ask you something," he started but Hanako put her finger to his lips.

"I know what you're going to ask, but first, I want to spend the whole day with you," Hanako told him.

"Oh, okay," Eido smiled reluctantly. He really didn't understand. Hanako began to walk down the sidewalk, holding Eido's hand as he followed.

"I need to run by my house and change," she explained, briskly walking along. Eido blushed slightly, imagining Hanako changing. He quickly shook the thought from his head. _Don't be a pervert,_ he thought to himself, _you'll blow your one chance with her._

He stopped in the sidewalk, causing Hanako to stop as well. "Hanako, let's ride on my skateboard," he suggested. She was a little surprised by the sudden stop.

"Umm… okay," she said reluctantly. She had never ridden on a skateboard before. She was a little scared as he pulled out his green skateboard from his backpack and sat it on the ground with one foot on the end.

"Here," he said, outstretching his hand to her. She gladly took it, as she liked holding his hand. His hand was warm and it felt like the perfect fit when she'd slip her fingers between his. She stepped up onto the skateboard cautiously to find it steady as he held it. He let go of her hand and wrapped one arm around her belly as he pushed against the ground, setting the skateboard rolling. She let out a yelp and reached for him for support.

"I got you," he told her with a chuckle as he tightened his grip around her. She felt safer and relaxed a little, but didn't let go of his shirt. She liked the smell of him. She couldn't really describe it. He was musty with sweat and boy smell, and a hint of soap. He felt so… human. She hadn't felt this kind of human connection in so long, or been this close to another. Her new parents had never hugged her or showed any kind of compassion for that matter.

Eido knew the way to Hanako's house, which wasn't much of a surprise to her. He slowed down as they reached the front gates and he placed one foot on the ground and loosened his grip on her. She turned around to face him as she stepped off his skateboard and she placed one hand on his chest to feel his heart racing. Hers was too, from the ride and from the intense moment.

"That was fun," she smiled up at him. He forced a smile back as he placed his hands on her sides. He couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't cheesy. He didn't want to do anything that would ruin the moment. He wanted to pop the question so badly, and he wished she would say yes.

"I'm going to go change, and ask my parents for some money so we could go get ice cream later or something. I'll be back in a few minutes," Hanako told him, quickly leaving his grasp.

"Okay," he said silently as she walked through the gate.

She glanced at him as she opened to door. He silently stood there where she left him, staring at the ground. Was there something wrong? Did she leave too soon?

"Eido," she called to him with a smile and he looked up at her, "I like you… a lot," she told him with a grin before going into the house and shutting the door behind her.

"She likes me a lot," he whispered excitedly. "She likes me a lot!" he repeated, but louder. His heart was pounding and he was so anxious for her to come back out so he could finally ask her. All the signals seemed to be all right, but she said she wanted to spend the whole day with him before he'd ask her. "But I want to know _now_," he said aloud, watching the door anxiously.

Hanako hastily got dressed in the bathroom and refreshed. Lee was gone again, which was good. She didn't want to get caught in a long conversation with him right now as she was doing his work. She fixed her hair and re-applied her makeup. It was so nice to have these necessities like makeup, they never let her have any in the orphanage. She applied a shimmery silver eyeshadow and left it at that. She wanted to be with Eido. Did he think she was pretty? She stared at her reflection in the mirror as the thought crossed her mind. She knew he commented several times before that she was cute. She didn't see herself as "cute". Her hair was straight but shaped with layers, her green eyes looked emerald with the silver eyeshadow to compliment them. There have been cuter girls…

Defeated, she turned away from the mirror and finished up, leaving in a hurry. Her mom was already home, so she rushed to find her.

She was in the kitchen, drinking a soda as she read the newspaper. She peered up at Hanako as she halted in the kitchen doorway from running.

"Did you need something, sweetie?" she asked with a smile.

"I'm going on a date and I would like some money," Hanako said quickly.

"Ooh, a date? You must be popular at school," she laughed as she dug in her purse and pulled out some yen.

"Thank you, okaa-san," Hanako smiled, pocketing the money in her cherry blossom bag, before heading out the door. "Bye!" she shouted as she shut the door and she ran down the sidewalk to Eido. She stopped just short of him with a smile.

"You look…" he stopped, trying to find the words.

"I look… what?" Hanako looked at him questionably, before looking down at herself. She was wearing a white tank top and a pair of denim shorts with black sandals. She could have guessed she looked decent.

"You look… beautiful," he whispered softly, gazing into her eyes. She blushed and smiled, she looked so huggable.

"Thank you," she told him, grabbing his hand. He felt her soft fingers slip in between his and he squeezed her hand with a smile. He kicked up his skateboard into his free hand and they began to walk down the sidewalk, holding hands.


End file.
